I have lived in America for the last 6 months and I am yet to meet an American. I have met people who sound American, who act American, who have lived in America all their lives and even those who have never set foot outside of America; but I have never met an American.
I have met weird hybrid people who are somehow from 7 different countries at a time. A typical conversation goes something like this:
"You sound like you have a bit of an accent. Where are you from?"
"Ireland, I moved over here in October for work."
"Oh that's so cool. I'm Irish too, my last name is McNoodle. But I'm also Dutch, Polish, German, Scottish and French."
"What an odd mix."
"Yeah it means I can drink a lot and fight. LOL ROFL"
I am all for people being proud of their heritage and all that, but there comes a time when the influence of your ancestors gets completely diluted out. If our friend was to head back to Poland, Ireland, Germany, Scotland or France and attempted to fit into the local scene I would imagine that not one single local would say "Oh look it is quite obviously one of our fellow countrymen" They would most likely say "Bloody Americans"
It is usually an incredibly distant relative that came over here in search of a better life. They arrived on some form of famine ship and then didn't really have a better life at all. Then the inter breeding began and how ever many generations later we have ended up with a hybrid person from "7 different countries." For the most part I am sure that the influence of each country's culture has become almost completely non-existent other than those few people who try to keep the dream alive by drinking Killians Irish Red (Product of USA) and other nonsense like that.
I find the whole I'm Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh and Iranian thing a bit confusing. America, according to almost everyone in America, is the greatest country in the world, but nobody will admit to being American. Why the shame?
I want to understand the desire for Americans who are like 4th or 5th generation but still claim to be Irish or Scottish or whatever. If your family have been here that long, then you probably aren't going back, so you are now a fully fledged American. Just give up on the dream and tell people you are American. There is no need to be ashamed of it.
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4 comments:
Well put Flops...Americans are always trying to one up themselves and trying to be something they're not. You'll also notice that just about everyone you meet is at least part Cherokee....like thats possible.
maybe we are not ashamed at all.... but trying to make new-comers like you feel welcomed with conversation and common ground.... Thanks for the mutual respect and good luck to you.
This is definitely an Americanism, but a lot of the responses you'll get depend on the context.
I'm definitely not ashamed of being an American. Heck two sides of my family go several generations back as Colorado residents.
Being an American is a bit of a misnomer though. Depending on what part of the US you're in, it can truly feel like you've gone to another country. We're extremely diverse in numerous ways. But as a country that is considered a melting pot, Americans also try to find a point of connection with those they don't know.j
For someone saying they have Irish heritage in response to finding out you're from Ireland is simply the American way of trying to find similar ground. I guess the assumption is that if you know some of a person's heritage, you might already know something about them.
No, in reality it doesn't make sense but stereotypes come about for a reason.
Some might also feel that by having a large number of heritages, they're showing just how "American" they are as the higher the number, the further back their American roots ago.
I'm sure there's plenty of other reasons for it to, but it's just one of those odd cultural things that you can only discover when you travel. =)
And on a side note in response to Chris's comment about being Cherokee, depending on what part of the US you're referring to, yes, a lot of us are part Cherokee. I'm sure if you're in Florida, you'd find a large increase in those with Seminole and so on and so forth.
It's been ages but was discussing this very issue with some friends the other day and thought I'd share the conclusion we came to....
The biggest reason American's don't usually say they're American is because it's been drilled into our heads since we were kids that only Native American's can make that claim since the rest of the world just invaded and most of us are just a result of that.
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